OCC Singers Join Long Beach Chorale to Perform German Requiem

Orange Coast College’s Chamber singers will join forces with the Long Beach Chorale and Chamber Orchestra to perform Johannes Brahms’ “Ein Deutsches Requiem” on Saturday, March 24.

The performance will take place in the College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre at 7:30 p.m. and will feature a full orchestra, as well as guest singers, soprano Marlissa Hudson and baritone and OCC alum David Stoneman.

Brahms’ Requiem is one of the most personal of all the great Requiems, or masses for the dead, in the choral-orchestral repertoire. Unlike the others, “Ein Deutsches Requiem” doesn’t use the traditional Latin mass text; Brahms opted instead to use Bible verses that were particularly significant to him, and to set them in his native language.

“The Brahms Requiem is one of the undisputed monuments of the choral-orchestral literature, but it’s also a completely approachable, personal piece — it's beautiful and exciting the first time you hear it, but you can spend your entire life exploring its depths, too,” says OCC Choral and Vocal Activities Director Eliza Rubenstein.

OCC’s Chamber Singers are the top choral ensemble at OCC — a group of approximately 40 auditioned students dedicated to performing the best choral music in a wide range of styles and genres. The group has made four trips to New York and Chicago to perform at Carnegie Hall and Orchestra Hall in the last several years, and will be returning to New York in 2019 to perform another major choral-orchestral work.

For those who can’t make the Saturday show, there will be a second performance on Sunday, March 25 at 4 p.m. at Grace First Presbyterian Church (3955 N. Studebaker Rd., Long Beach). Tickets are available at www.occtickets.com and www.longbeachchorale.org